"She's called Nova Scotia. There's just so much beauty the heart can believe, and you want to stay longer and she's ever so pleased."

artist:  Rita McNeil

songwriter:  Rita McNeil

date released:  1987 by Rita McNeil

Rita MacNeil, (May 28, 1944 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island.  She was a soft-spoken, independent singer-songwriter in the folk, pop and country genres.

Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray the following year.  Rita MacNeil was a soft-spoken, independent singer-songwriter in the folk, pop and country genres.

Through her career MacNeil received five honorary degrees, released 24 albums, won three Juno Awards, a SOCAN National Achievement Award,four CCMA awards, eleven ECMA awards, was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and was named to the Orders of Nova Scotia and most notably The Order of Canada.

On the eighth anniversary of her death, April 16, 2021, it was announced that Rita MacNeil would be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously in May of that same year.